


Where the Fire Never Dies

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Grant fosters dogs, Hellfire! Ward, Inhuman! Ward, s3-s6 do not exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-06-25 16:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19749250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: Grant Ward and Daisy Johnson always seem to fall back into one another's lives, one way or another. But, can Daisy finally trust him the day that she finds that he's turned his life around?And what do the dogs that she finds him with have to say about him?





	1. I Can't Wait for Peace

Daisy sighed, going over the details of the mission in her head as she drove into the small Tennessee town. 

_ “Suspected Inhuman.”  _ she thought.  _ “A man was seen lighting a candle with his finger. And nothing else. The guy is about six foot three and somewhere around 180 pounds of pure muscle. Caucasian. Black hair. Thick beard. Coulson wants me to ask around about him and then find him. Perhaps recruit him if we can. I don’t know why he thinks some random Inhuman would want to be recruited by SHIELD. I know that we’re back to being an actual organization again, but why would someone want to join like this? This is absolutely useless.” _

She sighed once more as she pulled into the town square, parking her SHIELD-loaned car right outside a small restaurant. She hopped out and stuck her phone into one of her pants pockets, grabbing the tablet from the passenger’s seat.  _ “Guess I should start with asking around about him. It’s a small town. Someone’s ought to know just who the hell I’m talking about.” _

Walking into the somewhat-busy square, she noticed as she received strange looks from the citizens. Of course they were gonna look at her like that, she was a stranger in a small town. It was obvious that it was a small town where everyone knew just about every single soul that lived there. An outsider would stand out like a sore thumb. 

The first few people she tried to approach didn’t want anything to do with her, which pissed her off. She just wanted to be in and out of here before she ended up having to do something else about the Inhuman. Luckily, a middle-aged looking man decided to be her saving grace.

“Excuse me, sir.” she stated, approaching the man. She frowned as he turned around.

“Yes?”

She quickly flashed her SHIELD badge to him, “I’m Agent Johnson with SHIELD. I just have a few questions I want to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

He raised a cautious eyebrow, “May I ask what this is about?”

“We’ve received word about a possible Inhuman in the area and I’ve been sent to investigate just to see if everything’s okay and to make contact with the man.” she began. “I have a basic description of the man; I was just wondering if you may know anyone who possibly matches his description.”

“Sure, uh, shoot away.” It was clear that the man was uncomfortable in the presence of a government agent. 

Daisy rolled through the description once more, “Caucasian male. Not quite middle-aged. Somewhere around six foot three. Around 180 pounds and muscular build. Black hair. Thick beard.” she explained. “Sound like anyone you’ve seen?”

The man frowned, “Hmm… Let me think for a minute.” He nodded, “You know, that kind of sounds like Mr. Slade.”

Daisy raised an eyebrow, “Slade?”

“He moved here about 2 years ago, I believe.” the man began to explain. “I can’t remember his first name, though. He works at the animal shelter the next street over and lives in a small cabin in the woods right outside of town. He fosters dogs that the shelter doesn’t have room for. He’s quite a strange man, though. I think he’s ex-military or something. But, I think he’s got a few screws loose in his head.”

The man shook his head, “But, I’m not sure about him being an Inhuman or anything.” he continued. “But, he sounds like who you’re talkin’ about.”

“Where does he live?”

The man pointed a finger towards the north. “Just follow that road out of town and I believe it’s the first dirt road on the right. If he’s home.”

Daisy nodded, “Thanks. That’s all I needed to know.” she stated, turning around and quickly leaving the man alone, knowing that she needed to go ahead and try to find the man before anything could happen.

She headed back to her car and threw the tablet back into the passenger’s seat. With yet another sigh, she pulled out of the parking space and drove out of the town square, headed towards the road that the man had pointed her towards.

_ “Sounds like he’s hiding out to me.”  _ she thought.  _ “Why move to a town almost in the middle of nowhere? He has to know of the trouble that he’s in to hide out in a place like this.”  _ She jerked the steering wheel as she headed down the first dirt road that she saw.  _ “I just hope that this is the guy I’m looking for. I don’t want to be searching for him forever. A pyrokinetic Inhuman is bound to attract the wrong kind of attention.” _

She parked a good way from the small cabin just so the man didn’t have a chance to see her. She didn’t expect him to run, but she couldn’t take any chances. Especially with a man that might be ex-military. She grabbed her tablet again and left the car, heading up the gravel driveway to the cabin. 

It was a fairly small cabin. It looked as though it was only a couple rooms big, but had a huge penned-off area in the back. A shiny and black motorcycle sat under a makeshift carport next to a huge, black truck. She frowned, seeing a stack of bags of dog food stacked near the bike. 

_ “Seems normal enough.”  _ she thought, approaching the front door. She froze as a familiar feeling shot through her, but she shrugged it off as she figured that it was nothing.  _ “I just need to come off as friendly to this guy. I don’t know what he’s like. That man back in town said that this guy has a few screws loose or something. I hope that that’s not a bad thing. I just need this to go right, okay?” _

Taking a sharp breath, she knocked on the door, seeing that there was no doorbell. She pulled her lips into a frown as she heard a chorus of dog barks/howls and a man yelling to try and calm them down. She could pinpoint just about 5 different barks. 

“Coming!” the man yelled as soon as the barks quieted down. “Sorry they’re so loud!”

Daisy’s mouth grew dry at the sound of the voice. The very familiar sounding voice. But, there was no way that  _ he  _ could be here, right? She had left him for dead back in San Juan. 

The door swung open to reveal a tall man holding a small, black puppy in his arms. “Hello….” He trailed off as he saw just who was standing there.

“ _ Skye?”  _

Daisy’s stomach dropped as well as her tablet, taking in the sight of the man (and the numerous dogs peering out from behind him) before her.

“ _ Ward _ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And don't worry, this is a relatively fluffy fic for once! And a little background: s3-s6 never happened and SHIELD was allowed to rebuild as a legitimate organization. The background for Grant being Inhuman will be revealed in the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy! Please leave a kudos or a comment!


	2. Everyone Starts in the Negative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy sees what has become of Grant.

Grant swallowed thickly, trying to comprehend the fact that Skye (Daisy, but he didn’t know of that yet) was currently standing on his front steps. Gears churned in his head and he quickly pulled her inside, closing the door behind them as she let out a yell of disapproval.

“Hey!” Daisy quickly spun around and glared at him. “What the hell are you thinking?!”

“Well, I didn’t want you to stand there with the door wide open.” he stated, shifting the small puppy in his arms. “A dog might get out.”

Daisy frowned and looked around, seeing 5 different dogs surrounding them. All seemed to be mixed breed ranging from very young to fairly old. Honestly, it was a strange sight to see. 

“What’s with the dogs?”

Grant shrugged, gently stroking the puppy on its head, “I keep an eye on them for the shelter.” he stated, surprised that that was her first question. “They don’t have enough room for all of their dogs, so they have people foster them until someone wants to adopt.” He pointed at an older-looking pit mix with his free hand, “Speaking of which, Jessie there is going back to the shelter tomorrow because someone’s interested in here. She’s been there for a couple of years, so it’s about time. All five of them are the same way. They’re waiting for someone to adopt them.”

She looked around and counted six, including the puppy in Grant’s arms, “I see six.” she deadpanned, still trying to wrap her head around things. How had the description of the Inhuman led her to Grant Ward of all people? Something was very wrong here. But, Grant seemed far more interested in the dogs rather than getting her to explain herself.

“Oh.” Grant looked down to the puppy. “He’s actually mine. I adopted him the other day. His name is Max. He’s about 9 weeks old and a pure-bred German shepherd. He’s the runt of the litter; his breeders dumped him at the shelter because they didn’t want to deal with any potential health problems and thought that they couldn’t sell him or whatever. But, he’s perfectly healthy. Just smaller than your average shepherd.”

“How?”

Grant blinked, “What?” he asked with a frown. “Do you mean how I adopted him because-”

“No!” she cut him off angrily. “All of this!” She gestured around them. “I shot you  _ four  _ times! You should’ve died! How the hell are you here?”

An arrogant smirk started to pull at Grant’s lips, “I should be asking you that, Skye.” he stated, bending over so he could place Max down on the ground. “You were the one knocking at my door. You were the one surprised to see me. Why were you at my front door?”

“I’m on a mission.”

“What kind of mission?” he asked, not amused. “What kind of mission brings you to the very same town, keep in mind in the middle of nowhere, that I live in?” His smile grew, “Is this fate I smell?”

“Fate my ass.” she growled. “It’s purely coincidence. Coulson sent me here after a suspected Inhuman to try and recruit him. I wanna know why the Inhuman’s description led me straight to you, Ward.”

Grant snorted and he walked off, sending the dogs scrambling. He sighed and sat down on the edge of the nearby couch, looking up at Daisy, “You’re smart, Skye.” he stated. “I think you can put two and two together. As long as you keep this between us.” 

Daisy frowned as something seemed to flash within Grant’s eyes, turning them bloodred for the briefest of seconds. Her stomach flipped as she did happen to put two and two together, “ _ You’re  _ the pyrokinetic Inhuman.” she stated coldly. “How the hell did you come in contact with Terrigen?”

“The very same way you did.” He leaned back. “And the very same day you did, I believe.”

Her face fell, “Huh? How….” She shook her head, “That doesn’t make sense, Ward. The crystals were destroyed after Raina and I went through it. After…” She shook her head again as she thought of Trip. “It doesn’t matter. This shouldn’t be possible.”

He looked back at her, a smile on his face, “And it  _ is  _ possible, Skye.” he stated matter-of-factly. “You may have shot me four times, but I still went after you. I pulled my broken and bleeding body down into that temple all because I didn’t want to see you get hurt. 

But, I got there too late. You were long gone by the time I got there.” he continued. “But, I don’t think that SHIELD had gotten there yet either because…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Because I saw what remained of Triplett.” he said, his tone grave. “The unlucky one, I suppose.” He shook his head again, “Anyways, I don’t really remember what happened. I must’ve come in contact with some stray Terrigen. Because everything started going darker than it already was. And heavier, too. Then there was the heat. The burning heat. 

I awoke sometime later to find my clothes almost burned off of my body and those wounds you gave me healed.” He swallowed, “I felt  _ amazing _ . But, I knew that something was wrong and I ran before SHIELD could come.”

Daisy just stood there, unsure of what to say. So, there had been 3 Inhumans to awaken that day. Had her mother ever known? But, why had it been Grant to survive and not Trip? She was starting to mentally bash herself over that. 

“How… How did you get here?”

Grant raised an eyebrow as she finally spoke, “Once I realized that I had powers, I took 6 months to learn how to control them. I never crawled back to Hydra or SHIELD. I was done with that.I didn’t want any more blood on my hands. Ended up here in one of my safehouses. Saw that the local shelter needed fosters and I started doing that after a while to help with my, uh, problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

He averted his eyes, “I don’t want to talk about it.” he muttered, his face falling. “Just forget about it, okay?”

Daisy frowned, “Okay, then.” She blinked and studied the dogs around them, seeing how the obviously seemed really content with Grant. She watched as Grant picked the puppy Max back up and cradled him close to his chest. Her stomach fell as she realized something.

It was like she was looking at a completely different man.

This wasn’t the Grant Ward she remembered. This wasn’t the man who had tons of blood on his hands. This wasn’t the man who was prepared to kill whoever stood in his way. As she watched those very same blood-covered hands cradle a small and fragile puppy, she realized that the man he had once been was long gone.

Perhaps that man had died when she had shot him and this man had been born out of Terrigenesis.

“That’s Jack there.” Grant spoke up, pulling her out of her thoughts. “ He’s a retriever mix and is about 2 years old.” She looked as she pointed to a larger yellow dog. “Those two there are Sadie and Sam. They’re siblings and are hound mixes. A family’s considering them for adoption soon. You already met Jessie. And that’s Connor, he’s a 6 year old spaniel mix. They’re all fixed and get along with one another really well.”

Daisy realized that he was trying to divert the conversation elsewhere, seeing that he had grown uncomfortable. She nodded, “So, am I supposed to tell Coulson that the Inhuman he sent me after actually turned out to be none other than Grant Ward, but I found him surrounded by a shit ton of dogs?”

He blinked. “You don’t have to tell him a damn thing, Skye. I’d like this to stay between the two of us.” he stated. “I’m happy where I’m at, I don’t want Coulson ruining this for me.” He patted Max on the head. “Surely you must understand.”

“Look, he’s sent me all the way here and I’m not returning empty handed. I know that he wants more Inhumans at SHIELD and he’s been running me all over the place, but I can’t help that no one wants to join SHIELD right now.”

“I don’t think that Coulson would be too happy if you showed up with me in tow. And I’d like to keep my life, thank you very much.”

Daisy sighed and watched as one of the dogs, Connor she believed, settle down on the rug, “You just want me to lie and tell Coulson that I didn’t find shit?”

He smiled, “Perhaps.”

“God, he’d kill me if I showed back up empty-handed. I can’t keep running around like this I-”

“Has he been working you to death, Skye?” Grant asked, cutting her off. “You look tired. And irritated.”

“That doesn’t matter to you, Ward. That’s none of your business, okay?” she almost snapped. “Like I said, I can’t help that no Inhuman wants to join SHIELD. Coulson just wants numbers in case Hydra decides to attack again or whatever shit he thinks of at night.”

Grant frowned, “I know that it probably isn’t my place to say this, but you can’t let him run all over you like that, if that’s what he’s doing.” he stated. “You-”

“That isn’t what’s happening. I just… I just…” She groaned and slumped down into the nearby chair. “Perhaps that’s what it is. I don’t know. I’m just tired of running around looking for Inhumans. And it’s always just me that gets sent after them, unless they’re deemed a high threat.”

Grant sat Max aside, “You don’t have to do  _ everything  _ he says, you know. You have the right to say no.”

She looked away, “Not to Coulson.”

“You can at least try.”

“I…” She trailed off and shook her head. She frowned as Connor, the spaniel, jumped into her lap and began licking her face. 

Grant smiled and started laughing, a sound that Daisy hadn’t heard in a long time,“He likes you!” he exclaimed. “That’s weird, he’s not fond of strangers.”

Daisy’s lips parted as she looked down at the black and white dog. She brought a hand to his back and began to pet him. Her eyes met Grant’s and a strange calmness overcame here. And that’s how she knew that he wasn’t the man he once was. 

And, oddly, she felt more at home here than she did at SHIELD. 

Had these dogs really turned the man’s life around?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a note here, this is about mid-s4 to early s5 time. So about 2.5 years after San Juan. A lot has happened since then, mainly since Hive and the Framework never happened. Any guesses to what's to come? Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	3. Cold Winter Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some insight from Grant.

(A Couple of Hours Later)

Grant had left Daisy alone for a while to tend to the dogs, making sure that each and every one of them had had enough time to play outside and use the bathroom. Daisy had seemed so overwhelmed by things that Grant had decided that she needed some time to herself just to come to terms with the fact that he was alive and Inhuman. But, she had seemed so exhausted and had admitted that Coulson was making her run around after every Inhuman that happened to pop up. 

Grant knew that Daisy had something against telling Coulson no. That she would run to the ends of the Earth to please him no matter what. He shuddered as that vividly reminded of what he done with Garrett. Doing whatever it took to please him. He just hadn’t thought that Daisy would do the same exact thing with Coulson. At least Coulson was better by Garrett, even if that wasn’t by a long shot to Grant’s standards. 

He almost wanted to offer to let her stay here and rest, but there were too many variables against just that. One, Daisy still seemed to absolutely hate his guts and still acted like she feared him. Two, SHIELD was watching her. She couldn’t stay here without raising suspicions. At all. 

But, it was clear that she needed some kind of break. At least a couple of days or so. But, she wouldn’t get it while Coulson was in charge. Grant knew that the Director had gone overboard ever since the emergence of the Inhumans. He wasn’t quite sure of what Coulson was intending to do with the Inhumans he brought it; he wouldn’t be surprised if he was just imprisoning them now. Grant felt like Coulson had fallen  _ that  _ far. 

Grant walked into the small living room, stopping as he found Daisy fast asleep on the couch. She must’ve passed out sometime after he had gone outside with the dogs. A smile pulled at his lips as he noticed that Max was in her lap, comfortably snuggled up against her stomach.

He knew that he should probably just let her sleep for a while, but he also worried of what Coulson might do if she didn’t report in soon. He didn’t want the Director sending a team after her, only to find him with her. Grant didn’t want to risk SHIELD finding him just yet. He had gone 2 and a half years without SHIELD finding him; he didn’t want to lose that streak now. 

He licked his lips, thinking of what could possibly happen if Coulson found him. He had worked so hard to suppress the otherworldly rage that his powers had oh so graciously given him. He shivered, remembering the way he could feel himself slip away and would wake up to find that there was nothing left standing around him. 

Grant remembered reading somewhere that an Inhuman always paid the price for their powers. That their powers always presented them with some kind of challenge that countered the so-called ‘gift’ that that had been given. Grant guess that his penance was the monster-like rage that he had to constantly work to suppress. He had lied to Daisy when he had told her that he had learned how to control his powers, but that was far from the truth. There was no way to control the rage that in reality controlled him. 

Grant knew if Coulson came knocking down his door, there would be hell to pay. And he wouldn’t remember a single thing of it. 

That’s why Grant had surrounded himself with so many dogs. He felt the most comfortable and calm when he was surrounded by them. The rage usually went dormant. But, now he was worried that Coulson would end that all for him. 

One part of him wanted to run Daisy off, to tell her to go and never come back so he could protect himself. But another part wanted her to stay. He didn’t want her going back to Coulson if he was mistreating her like he suspected. Daisy deserved rest and Grant didn’t want anything happening to her, even if she hated him right now.

He also feared if his rage showed itself, it would turn her against him even more. Seeing him as an even bigger monster than she currently saw him as. He feared of what would happen to him if that rage showed itself again. Grant knew that it could never truly contain it. That rage would always be there, eating at his very being at every single second that he was alive. 

Taking a sharp breath, Grant walked into the room. At the sound of his footsteps, Max perked his head up, blinking at the man. Grant smiled as the puppy hopped off Daisy’s lap and trotted over. He knelt down to stroke the puppy’s black fur. 

“At least you’re kind to me. You would never hate me unless I did something to you. Which I would never do.” he whispered. “You don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know of the blood that stains my hands. None of you do. That’s why you’re so much better than any human that I could ever meet.

I know that I hope that Skye will one day forgive me, I know that she’ll probably never do such a thing.” he continued. “That’s why I stay here.” He gently picked the puppy up and cradled him in his arms. Grant turned around and left the room, heading back outside where the other dogs were.

Max had been sleeping while he let the others run around, so Grant figured that the puppy needed to have some time to run around. It wasn’t too hot or too cold outside, so Grant knew that it wouldn’t hurt for them to stay outside just a little bit more. He walked outside, carefully setting Max on the ground. He smiled as the puppy yipped and ran off to meet the five other dogs. He let out a sigh as he lowered himself onto the step below and sat down. 

He was blissfully unaware, though, of the fact that Daisy stood in the kitchen a few feet away, watching him ever so quietly. Grant still wasn’t honed in on his heightened senses and still missed a few things from time to time. 

She frowned as she watched him, knowing that something had changed about him? But how could he have changed so drastically? How had the monster been completely and utterly washed away since the last time she saw him?

Could it really be that this was a different man?

Had the old Grant Ward truly died?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the 3 month wait on this! Work and school had me way too busy and I was severely lacking the motivation to update. Also, I'm not promising anything with the next update, but please bear with me! Keep the comments and kudos coming!

**Author's Note:**

> Just another idea! Find me on Tumblr @gears-of-ward!


End file.
